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|Buffy the Vampire Slayer
|Season 2, Episode 12
|Air date
|January 12, 1998
|Written by
|Marti Noxon
|Directed by
|David Greenwalt
|Episode Guide
| previous
| next
|Sarah Michelle Gellar
|Nicholas Brendon
|Alyson Hannigan
|Charisma Carpenter
|David Boreanaz
|Anthony Stewart Head
| Giles
|Guest Starring
|Kristine Sutherland
|Jeremy Ratchford
|James Parks
|Rick Zieff
| Mr. Whitmore
|Co Starring
|Danny Strong
|Brie McCaddin
|Cute Girl
|Eric Whitmore
|Night Watchman
"Bad Eggs" is the twelfth episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the twenty-fourth episode in the series. It was written by Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon and directed by David Greenwalt. It was originally broadcast on January 12, 1998.
Buffy and Scooby Gang encounter even more trouble than they expect when the eggs they are given in health class turn out to be prehistoric parasites that take over their lives.
Buffy and her mother, Joyce, are at a mall discussing Buffy's desire to buy a revealing dress. Joyce and Buffy split up to each do an important errand before the mall closes. On her way to the store, Buffy sees a guy wearing a cowboy hat romancing a girl, but also notices he has no reflection in a nearby mirror. She follows him upstairs, scares the girl off, and fights with him until he runs away. She returns to her mom, but forgot about her errand, frustrating her mother, who then gives Buffy a lecture on responsibility. Joyce thinks Buffy only thinks about boys and clothes. A chagrined Buffy tells her mom that she also thinks about saving the world from vampires, which causes her mother to sigh with exasperation.
The next day, Cordelia and Xander are making out in a closet, fighting all the while. Xander says it will work better if she doesn't talk, and she says it will go better if they keep the light off. Each gets offended that the other doesn't want to see or hear them. Cordy mentions (again) that she doesn't want anyone to know about their relationship, and their tempers cause them to start to leave. They reach for the doorknob, but stop and go back to making out with each other. They fall to the floor and Cordelia reaches up to turn the light off. Later that day in health class, the teacher asks the students to list negative consequences of having sex, and Xander and Cordy list each other's potential faults as consequences, without naming names. Finally, Willow gives the intended answer—pregnancy—and Mr. Whitmore says to learn about parenthood, the students will pair off and each team will take care of an egg as if it is their baby.
Xander and Willow enter the library with their eggs. Buffy, who had skipped health class, is handed an egg ("As a punishment, it's a little abstract...") that she will have to take care of as a single mother. Giles looks up the cowboys—Lyle and Tector Gorch—and suggests Buffy should hunt them with Angel's help. Willow scoffs that there will be little actual hunting going on in such a scenario, but Buffy says they'd never slack off their duty to get lost in romance. However, that night Buffy and Angel make out in the cemetery instead of hunting. The Gorch brothers watch from the cemetery wall, commenting that Buffy wasn't doing much slaying with Angel. That night, while Buffy is sleeping, her egg breaks open and tentacles emerge and attaches themselves to Buffy's face.
The next morning when she wakes up, the egg is back to normal, and Buffy is grumpy at breakfast. Back at the library, Giles finds Buffy, Willow, and Xander, who have been excused from Health class because their teacher did not show. Willow and Buffy are tired and sit down on the stairs. Xander begins to toss his egg nonchalantly in the air, as worried looks cross Buffy and Willow's faces. He hits the egg and it goes crashing to the ground, but doesn't break. He then reveals that he hard boiled it. Giles suggests that Buffy should go back to hunting with Angel since last night was a bust. That night, Buffy and Angel are yet again kissing instead of hunting in the cemetery. They stop to talk and the subject of the future, and children, comes up. Angel reveals that he can't have children. Buffy is shocked but that doesn't change how she feels for him—she says when she looks to the future, she only sees him.
Back at school, the night watchman hears some noise and goes to find out what the source was. He finds a big hole in one of the air pipes in a closet. When he goes to investigate, he is pushed in through the hole by someone whose face is not seen.
Late that night, Buffy sneaks back in through her window and sees her egg is moving. She gets closer and the creature inside leaps at her face, then drops and scuttles under the bed. She uses an iron as a mirror to look around and sees nothing. It crawls on the floor some more. She grabs some scissors and stands waiting for it to show itself. It climbs the wall behind her and she kills it with the scissors, stabbing it again and again and again. Buffy calls Willow to warn her, but Willow's egg has already hatched. Buffy's mom then comes in, and sees she is dressed. Buffy is grounded and sentenced to no after-school activities, and to only go to the library until her mother picks her up.
The next day at school, Willow tries to convince Buffy that her egg must have been a trap set by the cowboys. As they walk, the camera shows the little creature from the egg is hooked to Willow's spine. Xander, hungry, decides to eat his egg. He cracks it open, and when he is about to eat it, screams when he sees the creature inside. In the science lab the gang debates dissecting the creatures. Willow volunteers, and moments later, Cordelia's egg wakes up from inside her backpack. She suddenly picks up a rod and hits Buffy across the face with it. Willow grabs a microscope and hits Xander. They are thrown into a closet. Then Willow and the others are seen grabbing hoes and pickaxes.
Mrs. Summers comes to school to pick up Buffy, and finds herself having a conversation with Giles about Buffy and children in general. Then she is turned into a host by him when he picks up a creature and puts on her back. The two head down to the basement where they begin their work for the mother Bezoar. Buffy and Xander wake up and find two eggs by their side. Buffy smashes them and they head to the library in search of Giles. They find that Giles has been turned into one of these creatures. Just as they begin to find information, Jonathan cries out in pain in the hall. They rush out only to find that he has been turned into a host. They follow and find everyone digging at and pulling eggs from the mother Bezoar. Xander pretends to be a host, while Buffy fends off the Gorches. She hits them several times and then is thrown into the working pit.
Xander follows Cordelia and another guy. As they walk down a tunnel, he smashes the guy's head into the wall. Cordelia stops to swing at him and he ducks. She then hits him right on his bump. He screams in pain and then hits her across the face. Lyle follows Buffy into the basement area where the two attract attention to themselves, and Willow gives orders to have them all killed. Everyone attacks them, but Buffy and Lyle manage to fight them off. Tector stumbles through the hole now that he's collected himself, and is drawn to the mother creature, who grabs him and sucks him in. Lyle blames Buffy for what happened to his brother and throws her to the ground. Joyce takes a swing at her with a pickaxe, and Buffy quickly dodges before she is pulled towards the mother after; luckily, Buffy manages to grab the pickaxe Joyce dropped on the way. She beats up the mother creature and then all the workers fall to the ground.
Buffy comes up and out of the creature covered in black goo, and Lyle runs off after saying "It's over" (referring to his sentiment after their first fight). The next scene shows all the students leaving. Giles explains that it was a gas leak, which Xander tells him to stick with as a cover story while also urging Giles to wait until the next day, when he fills Giles in on what really happened. Buffy finds her mother, who is upset that Buffy had not studied in the library as she was instructed. As a result, Buffy is confined to her room as punishment; however, it immediately cuts to Buffy kissing Angel. While it looks like they're outside, the camera slowly pans out to reveal Buffy is leaning through her bedroom window, claiming that "she's not breaking any rules." Cut to credits.
- This episode introduces the Gorch brothers, Lyle and Tector, as minor villains. Tector is eaten, but Lyle returns in the Season 3 episode "Homecoming".
- The physical relationship between Buffy and Angel is intensifying, foreshadowing the events of "Surprise" and "Innocence".
- This is also the episode in which it's stated for the first time that vampires are sterile and cannot have children. Ironically, this is said by Angel, who will be the one and only vampire to be a father.
- Angel says to Buffy "you don't care what happens in a year, five years from now." In a year's time Angel will leave Buffy and in 5 years the Hellmouth and Sunnydale will be destroyed.
- This episode contains the first direct reference that Willow is Jewish; although there is a hint with her last name, Rosenberg, though not automatically: meaning "Castle of roses" in German, it may be (mostly) or not a Jewish surname.
- Buffy expresses horror at the prospect of becoming a single mother. With Joyce's death in season 5, she becomes just that to Dawn.
- Cordy refers to a girl 'having sex in a car'. If she is referring to herself as it is implied then she is the first of the younger Scoobies we know to have lost their virginity.
Body Count
- Bezoar baby, killed by Buffy Summers with a pair of scissors
- Bezoar baby, cooked in the boiling water by Xander
- Two Bezoar's eggs, broken by Buffy with a toolbox
- Tector Gorch, eaten by mother Bezoar
- Mother Bezoar, killed by Buffy with a pickaxe
- All Bezoar babies, automatically died with their mother
Behind the Scenes
- Among the movies referenced in this episode are Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, Children of the Corn, Jurassic Park and The Wild Bunch (from which the Gorch brothers' characters were derived).
- "Bad Eggs" had an audience of 4.1 million households.
Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors
- Jonathan is credited as "Johnathan".
Pop Culture References
- Xander suggests Willow should teach her egg the "Dreidel Song". A dreidel is a small top shaped like a cube with Hebrew letters on each of its four side faces, tapering to a point at the bottom and with a little handle at the top. It is a traditional gift given to Jewish children during the holiday of Hannukah, and has long had a song associated with it.
- Buffy: "I killed my Giga Pet!" When the Japanese Tamagotchi, a "virtual pet" which was in fact a small electronic device one carried in one's pocket and "fed" and generally paid attention to lest it died, became an instant fad and sold out literally in hours here in the U.S. in 1996, Tiger Electronics came up with their own version called the Giga Pet, which was more easily available and just as popular.
- Giles to Xander: "I suppose there is a sort of Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression." The Italian philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was one of the most influential of Renaissance thinkers. His most famous work was the 1515 treatise The Prince, in which he says that to remain in power and be truly effective, a ruler must reject traditional morality and use his power ruthlessly — for instance gaining a reputation for stinginess instead of generosity, or to be severe rather than merciful when administering punishment. As a result, the term "Machiavellian" has come to describe the practice of achieving one's goals by whatever means necessary, whether those means are moral or not.
- A promotional poster for the comedy-drama series "Ally McBeal" is shown in the mall. Numerous Buffy alumni would appear on the show most notably Armin Shimmerman, Mark Metcalf and Sarah Hagan.
International Titles
- French: Oeufs surprises (Surprise Eggs)
- Finnish: Pahan Otteessa (In the Grip of Evil)
- German: Faule Eier (Bad Eggs)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (Plays while Buffy shops with her mother.)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- "Die Zauberflöte (Overture to The Magic Flute)"
- Letters to Cleo - "Cruel to Be Kind"
- Shawn Clement and Sean Murray - original score
|Buffy: "Come on, Mom. Please?"
|Joyce: "I'm sorry, honey."
|Buffy: "Don't you understand how important this is?"
|Joyce: "It's an outfit. An outfit that you may never buy."
|Buffy: "But I looked good in it."
|Joyce: "You looked like a streetwalker."
|Buffy: "But a thin streetwalker." (gets a look from her mom) "That's probably not gonna be the winning argument, is it?"
|Joyce: "You're just too young to wear that."
|Buffy: "Yeah, and I'm gonna be too young to wear it until I'm too old to wear it."
|Joyce: "That's the idea."
|Joyce: "Okay. I'll go to the printers and then get our food. (pulls out a slip of paper) You go to the tailor and pick up my outfit from Everyday Woman." (she hands Buffy the slip of paper)
|Buffy: (looks at the paper) "Everyday Woman?"
|Joyce: "Mm-hm. There's the receipt."
|Buffy: "Why didn't you just go to Muu-Muus R Us?"
|Joyce: "Do now, make fun of your mother later." (walks off)
|Buffy: "Oh, bliss." (sits) "Mall food." (looks up at her mother)
|Joyce: "Buffy?"
|Buffy: (attentive) "Mom?"
|Joyce: "Where's my dress?"
|Buffy: (confused) "Your dr...? Oh." (winces) "Oh, God."
|Joyce: "Let me guess. You were distracted by a boy."
|Buffy: (cringes) "Technically."
|Joyce: (leans back) "Buffy..."
|Buffy: (exhales) "Look, I-I can go get it right now."
|Joyce: "They're closed. I'll just have to fit it in tomorrow."
|Buffy: "Sorry."
|Joyce: "A little responsibility is all I ask. Honestly, don't you ever think about anything besides boys and clothes?"
|Buffy: "Saving the world from vampires?"
|Joyce: (crosses her arms and shakes her head) "I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes on in your head."
|Joyce: (to Giles) "They're such a - oh, I don't want to say burden, but, uh... Actually, I kind of do want to say burden."
|Willow: "Buffy, how come you weren't in class?"
|Buffy: "Vampire issues. Did Mr. Whitmore notice I was tardy?"
|Xander: "The word you're searching for is "absent"."
|Giles: "Technically that would be cheating, yes?"
|Xander: "No. It's like a short cut. You know, when you run a race?"
|Buffy: "That would also be cheating."
|Buffy: "Hey, where's Giles? I know he won't wanna miss this."
|Willow: "He said to get started. He'll be by as soon as possible."
|Xander: "So, okay! Get started, Buffy! Dissect it or something."
|Buffy: "Me? Why do I have to dissect it?"
|Xander: "Uh, because you're the Slayer?"
|Buffy: "And I slayed. My work here is done."
|Giles: "How did the um... hunt go last night, Buffy?"
|Buffy: "No go."
|Giles: "No, "no you didn't go"? Or, no, "you were not successful"?"
|Buffy: "No Gorches."
|Xander: "Apparently, Buffy has decided the problem with the English language is all those pesky words. You. Angel. Big. Smoochies?"
|Buffy: "Shut. Up."
|Xander: "Last time Cordy dragged me in here, it was a lot nicer."
|Buffy: "What?"
|Xander: "Huh? Nothing. Head trauma."
|Xander: "What are we gonna do?"
|Buffy: "We can't fight these things until we know something about 'em."
|Xander: (thinks) "Alright, Willow said something. Uh, a name. What was it?"
|Buffy: "A bozo! Not a bozo."
|Xander: "A bezoar."
|Buffy: "That's it! Okay, so now... we look it up?"
|Xander: "In what?"
|Buffy: "A book?" (They look over at the counter where there are several books lying open and go over to them) "Giles said he was gonna try to find something..." (She takes the book on top that's open to a picture and turns it around to look at it. The sketch is of a disk-shaped, tentacled monster) "And I'd say he found something." (Xander moves around her to have a look himself, steps on half an eggshell and looks down at it)
|Xander: "I'd say something found him."
|Buffy: " 'Pre-pre-historic parasite. The mother hibernates underground, laying eggs. The offspring then attach themselves to a host, taking control of their motor functions through neural clamping.' "
|Xander: " 'Neural clamping.' That sounds skippable."
|Buffy: "So, our people are taking orders from the mama bezoar. Which begs the question..."
|Xander: "What does mama want?"
|Giles: "Yes, yes, uh, i-i-it was a-a, a gas leak, everyone. Uh, well, just, uh, get some air, and a… good night's rest, you know, uh, you'll be fine. These gas things… will happen. (to Xander) W-w-what was it really?"
|Xander: "Stick with the gas thing. I'll fill you in tomorrow."
|Giles: "Right."
|Joyce: (to Buffy) "Until further notice, you are confined to your room. You will not leave your room at any time, except to go to school or the bathroom. Am I making myself clear?"
|Buffy: (quietly) "You're clear."
|Willow: "Did I really hit you?"
|Xander: "You knocked me out."
|Cordelia: "Did I hit you?"
|Xander: "Yes! Everybody hit me!"
|Cordelia: "Good. I mean, good not as in 'I hate you'. I just didn't want to be left out."


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Methylated Lysine Analog
Recombinant Histone H3K4me1 (MLA) has been generated using the patented Methylated Lysine Analog (MLA) technology. In MLA, methylated histones are generated via a chemical alkylation reaction that substitutes a methylated analog of lysine, aminoethylcysteine, for the existing lysine at the desired residue. Aminoethylcysteine is structurally and chemically similar to lysine, though it contains a sulfide substitution in place of the lysine ϒ-methylene. The MLA technique provides precise control over the site and degree of methylation. The MLA technology is covered under U.S. Patent No. 8,278,112.
50 µg supplied as lyophilized powder. Recombinant histones can be resuspended in water or any suitable buffer. We recommend a starting concentration of 1 mg/ml. To fully solubilize the histone we suggest resuspension in the buffer of choice at room temperature for 20-30 minutes with occasional pipetting. Addition of salt or Tris to the resuspension buffer may enhance histone solubility.
Histone H3 is one of the core components of the nucleosome. The nucleosome is the smallest subunit of chromatin and consists of 146 base pairs of DNA wrapped around an octamer of core histone proteins (two each of H2A, H2B, H3 and H4). Histone H1 is a linker protein, present at the interface between the nucleosome core and DNA entry/exit points.
Application Notes
Recombinant histones are suitable for use as positive controls in the analysis of histone post-translational modifications, as substrates for histone modification enzymes, or to generate chromatin in vitro.
Protein Details
Recombinant Xenopus laevis Histone H3 monomethyl Lys4 (H3K4me1) is produced in E. coli and purified using FPLC. The protein contains a substitution of cysteine to alanine at amino acid 110. Recombinant methylated histones are specifically methylated via a chemical alkylation reaction that introduces a methyl lysine analog (MLA). This specific chemical treatment enables the site and degree of methylation to be controlled precisely. Each methylation reaction is over 99% complete, as verified by high-resolution ESI-TOF mass spectrometry. Protein concentration was determined using the molar extinction coefficient for Histone H3 and absorbance at 280nm. The recombinant histone is >98% pure by SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight of the recombinant histone is 15,271 Daltons.
Lyophilized proteins can be stored at -20°C or -80°C, preferably desiccated. Recombinant proteins in solution are temperature sensitive and must be stored at -80°C to prevent degradation. Avoid repeated freeze/thaw cycles and keep on ice when not in storage.
This product is guaranteed for 6 months from date of receipt.
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subset: commoncrawl


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That's how I see it. The Republicans will regain control of the House on Tuesday. If you want to know the reasons why in detail, I'll be giving the last of my election talks today at 4 at the Ripton Community Church (the white church building just past and across the street from the Vermont Country store with the "IEC" sign – you know, that frozen water stuff).
But since many of you will be watching the bridge opening instead, and the less fortunate among you don't have the pleasure of living here in God's Green Mountains, let me give you the abbreviated explanation for why John Boehner is poised to be the next Speaker of the House.
As most of you know, historically the president's party loses House seats during the first midterm after a presidential election. The average loss across the seven first-term midterm elections in the period 1946-2006 in the House has been 17 seats (and slightly more than 1 seat in the Senate.) The only exception to this rule since 1946 occurred in 2002, when the Republicans actually gained House seats. Most analysts believe this gain was largely due to the ability of George Bush and Republican candidates to nationalize the election by running on a national security platform in the aftermath of 9-11- an exceptional event.(Note that across all 16 midterms in the post-World War II period, the president's party lost, on average, 24 House seats and 3.5 Senate seats.)
There are several reasons for this recurring midterm seat loss (I explore these factors more deeply in my talk), but the key point is that the loss is based on structural (or fundamental) factors that affect all first-term midterm elections to some degree, regardless of the president. And it is these structural factors that political scientists attempt to measure when they construct their forecast models. In an earlier post I discussed some of the House midterm predictions made by political scientists during Labor Day. John Sides at the Monkey Cage has constructed a very useful chart summarizing some of these predictions, and adds in one by Nate Silver at 538.com as well (note that Silver is an economist so you probably want to take his prediction with the requisite dose of salt.)
There are a couple of things to keep in mind here. First, these forecasts are based on factors as of Labor Day, or earlier. Several of the forecasters note that their estimates might change in the remaining two months prior to the election. (Silver seems to change his almost weekly, which is why I don't put much stock in his underlying model). Second, these red dots only show the mean estimate – not the confidence interval (a measure of the reliability of the estimate.) So, for example, although Jacobson's model forecasts a Republican pickup of 43 seats, his confidence interval is +/- 27 seats – that is, the "true" seat pickup lies, with a specified probability, anywhere from 16 to 70 seats. So, although most political scientists put the likelihood of a Republican takeover at 60-70%, this estimate is often subject to a great deal of uncertainty.
How are these models constructed? Most derive their forecast based on structural factors. These usually include some measure of the economy (unemployment, change in disposable income, etc.); a measure of the number of seats in play, or the time in which the majority party has held power; and – in some cases – a measure of presidential popularity.
If most models measure the same set of factors, why are there such differences in the mean estimates (within the various confidence intervals) shown in this table? Some of this has to do with differences in the models' variables – e.g., do you use unemployment or disposable income to assess the economy? But perhaps the biggest difference is whether the model incorporates a fourth factor – the generic ballot measure that asks voters whether they will vote Republican or Democrat in the midterm. As I've discussed in several previous posts, that measure has been favoring the Republicans at historically high levels for much of this election season. The latest Gallup low-turnout model has Republicans up by 14% over Democrats.
The Real Clear Politics equivalent, which is a composite of several of these polls, has Republicans up by about 7% among likely voters. Accordingly, the forecast models that incorporate the generic ballot (keeping in mind these were constructed more than a month ago when the generic ballot may have been different) are predicting Republican seats gain in the 40+ seat range. Those that do not – see the Cuzan and Lewis-Beck and Tien models – believe that Republicans will pick up seats closer to the historical average, and thus Democrats will retain control of the House.
So, where do I come down? Note that I am a consumer of these forecast models, not a producer. That is, although I will run some of these models on my own in order to see the consequences of tweaking some of the assumptions, I do not create my own Dickinson model. Instead, my forecast starts with existing models, which I then modify based on what I am seeing in my own poke and soak-based methodology (surveying hundreds of polls, talking to my Mom, the local barber, what my former students working in campaigns across the country tell me, etc.) – a methodology I've honed through the years of election watching, and which led me to predict that Democrats would pick up 18 seats in 2006. They picked up 30. So be forewarned!
My "methodology" leads me to believe, as I announced in my last talk, that the political science models are, for the most part, too conservative. That is, most of them are underestimating the likely Republican seat pickup. In political scientists' defense, there's a good reason for this. Political scientists (myself included) are inherently conservative; we believe that what happens in the future will not usually differ from what occurred in the past. That is, the dynamics that drove midterm outcomes in the period 1946-2006 aren't likely to change much in 2010. The forecast models are predicated on this assumption. When these models get into trouble, then, is when they don't account for new factors, or when existing factors operate in unusual ways. In 1994, for instance, I can't recall a single forecast model that predicted the 57-seat pickup by Republicans. It was an unprecedented (in the post-World War II era) gain and it broke a 40-year period of Democrat control of the House.
My point is that you had to be an idiot, or a genius, to have predicted the Republican takeover in 1994. Most political scientists are neither. Instead, they are smart people who are very good at understanding why regular patterns occur and in extrapolating from those regular patterns to forecast future outcomes.
So, what will happen Tuesday? There are three factors that I think suggest this will be another "wave" election, closer to 1994 than to the other post-war midterms. First, there are an extraordinary number of seats in play – Charlie Cook puts it at more than 90 – and most of them are held by Democrats. In a typical year you might see half that number of seats in play. So models that take the number of marginal seats in play into account (the Campbell model is one) are going to be more accurate, I think. Second, I think the Tea Party movement is an indicator – not a cause, mind you! – that this election cycle is different. As I've said repeatedly, most Americans are not members of the Tea Party, although perhaps a quarter to a third are sympathetic to it. But the movement has, I think, tapped into a deep underlying fear widespread among many Americans that the nation is headed in the wrong direction. Whether one agrees with that diagnosis or not, the fact remains that, according to most polls, independents are swinging Republican in large numbers compared to 2006 and 2008, and that Democrats are less enthusiastic than Republicans in this race. In this regard, one of my bellwether election indicators remains Delaware. The latest poll there (yes, it's only one poll with all the methodological caveats you've heard from me before) shows Christine ("I'm not a witch!/What Separation of Church and State?") O'Donnell shaving 9 points off Chris Coons' lead in the last week – and this was before the Halloween "trick and trick" story broke. I'm not saying O'Donnell can win – she's still down by double digits – but the fact that a Tea Party candidate with her credentials is even in hailing distance of the Democrat in this traditionally blue state speaks volumes in this election cycle. There are other indicators along these lines – the latest Fox generic ballot, for example, has Republicans up big over Democrats, and polling data shows Angle solidifying her lead in Nevada and Rossi closing on Murray in Washington – that suggest the election might be breaking in Republicans' favor. Admittedly, this is a selective read of a very broad array of recent indicators, some of which favor Democrats (see West Virginia and California, for example). Underlying all this, however, is my belief that the financial crisis that hit in 2008, and which persists today in the guise of an unemployment rate over 9%, a sluggish housing market, and general economic uncertainty, is one of those unprecedented factors with which the traditional forecast models don't deal well. In terms of previous election forecasts, these economic conditions are outliers, which leads me to believe that the models are not as useful in predicting the likely outcome in this cycle and that, contrary to some models' forecasts, Republicans will pick up an unusually high number of House seats.
How many? I'll set the over/under at a 49-seat Republican gain. Note that this may be extreme by political science standards, but it is very conservative when compared to what political pundits are predicting. RealClearPolitics, for example, has a mean estimate that has Republicans netting 65 seats. I've heard some estimates as high as 75-80 seats. So in some respects I'm splitting the difference between the mean political science forecasts and the collective "conventional wisdom" espoused by political pundits.
So there you have it. It's time for you to weigh in again and test your electoral wisdom against mine. As always, no wagering at home – all that's at stake is an "It's the Fundamentals, Stupid" t-shirt and my personal reputation. Lots of you participated in the Senate contest (hope everyone remembers to check the comments sections to see the Senate predictions.) If you voted in the Senate contest, you can still participate in the House lottery as well. Note also that the Senate forecast contest is still open – both remain open through Monday night. Two t-shirts are better than one!
Don't tarry – Election Day is around the corner. And I'll see some of you at 4 p.m. in the Ripton (nondenominational) Church today.


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This cute zip-up hooded sweatshirt is perfect for her. Features sparkle logo tape down the arm sides, a rhinestone triangle detail, and split kangaroo pocket. Lined with soft fleece. Part of a matching set.
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Tech research firm IDC reported that worldwide integrated infrastructure and platforms accounted for a massive "653.8 petabytes of new storage capacity shipments" in the first quarter of 2014 alone. That represents 72.3 percent growth over the same period last year.
The broad category of integrated platforms and infrastructure includes only systems that are pre-integrated and vendor-certified and that include at least all of the following: "server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment and basic element/systems management software."
Total revenues for both integrated infrastructure and integrated platforms hit $1.95 billion during the quarter, up 38.5 percent from last year. Integrated platforms accounted for $769.6 million, up 8.3 percent from last year, while integrated infrastructure accounted for $1.2 billion, up 69.4 percent from Q1 2013.
IDC distinguishes between the two as follows: "Integrated platforms are integrated systems that are sold with additional pre-integrated packaged software and customized system engineering optimized to enable such functions as application development software, databases, testing, and integration tools. Integrated Infrastructure systems are designed for general purpose, distributed workloads that are likely to have differing performance profiles. While integrated infrastructure is similar to integrated platforms in that it will leverage the same infrastructure building blocks, it is not optimized for a specific workload."
"As the market moves to the 3rd Platform, IT customers are seeking to leverage cloud, social, mobile and big data in their [organizations]. Transforming an IT environment requires a new approach to systems," said Jed Scaramella, IDC research director, enterprise servers, in a prepared statement. "Many customers see the convergence of server, storage and networking in integrated systems as a means to deliver IT efficiency and agility. IDC expects to see more workload-optimized systems come to market in the near term."
"Once again we witnessed an increasing number of organizations around the world leveraging integrated systems to address longstanding datacenter infrastructure inefficiencies," said Eric Sheppard, research director, storage, also in a prepared statement. "As such, this market remains one of the fastest growing segments of the overall infrastructure market."
Leading integrated platform vendors in the first quarter of 2014 included:
The top integrated infrastructure vendors included:
Additional details can be found in IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Integrated Infrastructure and Platforms Tracker.
About the Author
David Nagel is editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Technology Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal and STEAM Universe. A 25-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.
He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEJournalDave (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).
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Arctic's Accelero Xtreme Cooler for Upcoming Radeon HD 7900/7800 Series
Arctic Launches Accelero Xtreme 7970
Arctic presents its latest VGA cooler - the Accelero Xtreme 7970, and it will be available from 31st January.
Compatible with the just announced and soon to be available AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics card, this VGA cooler employs three 92mm PWM fans with a low noise impeller, five heat pipes and 84 fins for an enhanced heat dissipation. From our tech updates from AMD, we understand that the new cards will feature a renewed reference cooler, but with the availability of after-market options being announced even before the card hits the retail shelves, we got to wonder if AMD can't yet make an efficient default cooler? We'll find out pretty soon as we wrap up our own testing of this new graphics card.
Back to the Accelero Xtreme 7970, it features pre-applied Arctic MX-4 thermal compound to make contact with the GPU, while removable Arctic G-1 thermal glue optimizes RAM and voltage regulation modules' thermal conductivity. Last but not least, a patented fan holder promises to eliminate any buzzing sounds that fans are prone to produce.
Besides the Radeon HD 7970, the Accelero Xtreme 7970 is also compatible with the upcoming Radeon HD 7950, 7870 and 7850.
Source: Arctic Cooling


text:
La vita è bella!
by Mauro Bubu Bole, photos by Andrea Gallo
In December '99, when I went to Stevie Hastons cave in Valsavaranche to repeat his routes I saw that obvious roof on the opposite side of the valley and I asked myself why Stevie hadnt climbed anything there. Its impossible not to notice it, its really eye-catching and truly spectacular.
Then, when I had finished the tour in the cave I went to have a closer look and I realised why there werent any routes: the roof, roughly 15m long, is extremely smooth. I was too curious though, so after the first 20m up a slender icicle I tried to equip the thin crack that ran through the roof but I didnt have pegs that were thin enough. And thankfully I didnt have a drill, for I would surely have ruined what I now consider to be my personal masterpiece. On that occasion, after having ruined my fingers for no reason, I said to myself but even if I manage to equip the route, when will I ever be able to climb it? Well, itll be for the next millennium! And so I abandoned the idea
But that damned crack didn't leave me in peace, you know, like the yellow face on the Ovest of Lavaredo : when you feel it, you've just got to go out and do it! So this autumn when talking to Grivel, Gioachino asked me what I had planned for this winter, I answered immediately: "Well, definitely not a season like last year, otherwise I'll reduce my life expectancy. But there are two things that are really important to me: the first is that half-finished roof project, the second is an old dry tooling project of 'No siesta' on the Grandes Jorasses. And then, why not the Ice World Cup."
After the competition in Val Daone (the only occasion when I really showed some balls) I went to finish equipping that famous roof with Massimo Farina (he has the patience of a saint). That day I ruined my back hammering in pegs upside down, and I almost dropped half of them. Then, during the next weekend, another three days of nervousness at the mixed competition at Saas Fee naturally I fell low down.
I was so full of energy that I felt like an unexploded bomb, and so on Monday I went to speak to that crack on my own. I returned on Wednesday again with the angelic Massimo to try the route. After a first attempt I manage to climb all the moves, but my morale drops to rock-bottom at the thought of how much energy Ill need to link all those precarious moves. I pull down the rope and say to Massimo Have a go, tell me if it seems feasible.
Half-way through the roof he says to me Lower me off, theres no point, I dont even have any spurs. At the base he whispers all that work for nothing No Massimo, all is not lost, the important thing is to believe! I decide to have another go, change the blades to those I had carefully prepared for the competitions, seeing that they hadnt been that much use to me there. And right from the start I notice that something has lit up inside of me, that sense of perfect lucidity and absolute calm, as if time stands still.
I climb through the first section, very physical with long lock-offs and little for the feet to about half-height where I rotate 180° and, with the spurs jammed in the slender sloping crack, traverse along this for about 3 meters. Im hanging upside down like a bat. Ive pushed the boat out, so Id better start rowing I say to myself while Massimo shouts Come on, you can do it! I dont know how long I stayed in that position, perhaps too long, but my ice axes continued to slip out, leaving me hanging just from my spurs. Finally I climb past that section and return to an upright position, or almost. At least the blood can circulate in my feet once again. Two more long locks and I reach the last move on the rock, where I jam my ice axe in upside down. The move to reach the icicle is really long and I cant stretch out horizontally. Im too tired, Im losing my grip and I cant turn back
I begin to puff like a train while Massimo shouts at the top of his voice Come on you bastard, dont let go. From the road Assan (Roberto Fioravanti) shouts up to not let go (he didnt really know what was happening, but judging by the whining it had to be something important). Making use of the last second of lucidity I manage to jam my right calf muscle onto the upside down ice axe handle. Hellish pain! The handles metal hook cuts through my trousers and penetrates my calf muscle but I continue to tell myself it doesnt hurt.
Finally I manage to hook the icicle with my left axe and I let myself fall towards her in a head-on collision. Thankfully it resists the impact. I pull myself together immediately. But now there's another small problem one axe has remained jammed in the roof. I think about what to do, then decide for the only feasible solution: holding the icicle tightly with my right arm (as if she were a woman) I hollow out an upside-down hole with my remaining axe to then reach over to grab the other axe. Done it! All I have to do now is traverse for 5m inside the fragile ice curtain to climb around it and exit straight into the woods.
During those final stressful minutes I had just one thought: "Let's hope that last peg in the roof is good, because if the ice curtain breaks, I'm going to remember the whipper for the rest of my life." But things went well! As soon as I arrived at the belay tree I shouted so loud they would have heard me all the way down in Aosta. Then, back at the base of the route, the adrenaline hits me and I begin to shake like a leaf. "Where did all that come from?" Massimo asks and I answer "I don't know! See how little we know about ourselves. Man is an unpredictable animal!"
Its grade? I don't know and it's not important, there isn't an "M" that translates the energy I spent in that moment, however long or short it may have been. It's not my style to sing my praises but in these last two years I've repeated various hard routes and, always with a bit of luck, I've managed to some of these climb on-sight. And it's certain that I've never climbed a dry tooling route as demanding and complete as 'Mission Impossible'.
There are certainly increasingly strong climbers around and new ones are appearing on the scene all the time. I hope that some of these repeat Mission Impossible. Every mountaineer who uses his heart in his ascents should be able to accept the course of life and, who knows, perhaps it will be me who holds the ropes on Mission - just like Stevie held mine on "Empire" - for the young and strong Massimo Farina It'll be an honour to give him some suggestions.
- Mauro Bubu Bole drytooling
|- Slide Show
Bubu Bole climbing Mission Impossible


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Two lawmakers are warning Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White that the agency must withdraw several amendments governing the newly allowed hedge fund ads or run afoul of the law.
In a July 22 letter to SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, take issue with Proposed Rule 503, which they say "requires private issuers to file a wildly expanded Form D 15 days before" they start advertising.
"Congress did not say that the commission can delay free speech for 15 days," they wrote.
The lawmakers state that although they support the rule lifting the ban on hedge fund advertising, they request in their letter that the SEC withdraw Proposed Rule 503 "in order to uphold the intent of the law."
Congress "specifically required the commission lift the ban on general solicitation for those Rule 506 offerings that solely target accredited investors and qualified institutional buyers," they wrote, arguing that the waiting period is in effect a ban, and that completing the paperwork requires "hiring qualified counsel" and can stretch the wait far longer than 15 days.
They called the pre-filing requirement "yet another unnecessary burden that prevents small businesses from accessing capital that they need to grow and create jobs."
Garrett said in the letter that the SEC's "proposed amendments to Form D filings — over the objections of two commissioners — are not called for under Section 201 of the JOBS Act."
But A. Heath Abshure, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association President and Arkansas Securities Commissioner, says that McHenry and Garrett "fail to appreciate the need to balance the needs of business with the needs of investors" by asking the SEC to withdraw proposed Rule 503. "Such a failure would result in an unregulated 'wild west' market in which their constituents will lose money. Ultimately, their constituents will lose confidence in these new markets, stop investing, and look to Reps. McHenry and Garrett for answers. We encourage the SEC to resist this shortsighted political pressure and move as expeditiously as possible to adopt the proposed investor protection amendments to Regulation D and Form D."
The lawmakers also took issue with the requirement under proposed Rule 510T to file all ads with the SEC for the first two years the rule is in effect. "Samples of data should clearly suffice" for market evaluation, they said, adding that for compliance purposes, the commission could gather the ads itself since they will be public.
They also criticized the mandate of "canned" disclosures on ads under Proposed Rule 509, saying that "in this modern Internet age … investors generally ignore standard disclosures, either because of their overuse or limited utility."
These amendments, they wrote, "would likely increase regulatory burdens on small businesses seeking to conduct Regulation D offerings and thereby undermine the fundamental goals of the JOBS Act."
Check out Surprise! Not Every Hedgie Loves the Lifted Ad Ban on ThinkAdvisor.


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Finance for Non-Finance Managers
Location: Dublin
Cost: €275
Date: Wednesday, August 15th
Course Objectives
The objectives of the one-day course are to:
- Provide an rigorous overview of basic Accounting principles to all participants (i.e. How do Accountants think)
- Explain how daily actions impact reported Financial Performance
Course Deliverables
Following completion of the one-day Programme, participants will be able to
- Understand the role of Finance in their daily operations
- Understand how they can contribute to improving company financial performance
- Interpret Accounting information in their day-to-day roles.
- Engage in tangible discussions with financial colleagues to drive plant performance initiatives.
- Understand and contribute to their in-company budgeting process
Delivery Style
The course will be delivered in a discursive and interactive manner with a strong emphasis on participation. The objective is to make participants comfortable with the language of finance and confident to engage discussion with their financial colleagues.
Course Content
The role of Finance
- What is the purpose of Finance
- Compliance and Shareholder issues.
Financial Accounting Principles
- Fundamental Principles: Matching, Accruals
- Profit and Loss Overview Exercise
- Balance Sheet Overview Exercise
How daily tasks impact Financial Reporting
- Inventory Valuation
- Identifying obsolete inventory.
- Transaction accuracy and timeliness
- Formalising the Purchase Order process
Standard Costing
- Overview of Management Accounting
- Fixed Costs, Variable Costs, Contribution Exercise
- Standard Costing Overview
- How Standard Costs (Mat, Lab & O/H) are set
- Overhead Absorption Principles
- Traditional Methods Exercise
Variance Analysis
- Principles of Variance Analysis
- Variance Analysis Example
- Total Materials Variance
- Price Variance (PPV) Exercise
- Usage Variance (Yield and MUV) Exercise
- Total Direct Wages Variance
- Rate Variance Exercise
- Efficiency Variance Exercise
- Testimonial from ICBE member company "I have looked around and I can honestly say Mick O Callaghan is the best. Don't look anywhere else because you won't find better. (He doesn't use power point! which is refreshing)"
- Total Materials Variance
For more information on Skillnet Ireland, please visit www.skillnetireland.ie


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Oh look! It's something lemon!
I know, I know. I have lemon issues. But, please forget about my lemon obsession for a few moments and let's concentrate on the fact that I attempted pastry! Yes, that thing that everyone else makes and leaves me paralyzed for fear of disaster.
The fact that it's advertised as "unshrinkable" and mine so very, very shrank like it was Alice in Wonderland after drinking that potion? Yeah, I'm going to ignore that part of it. Because, if I focus on what didn't quite work, then I'll never try to make pastry again and with so many pies and tarts to make, I can't let that get in my way.
So, the occasion was perogy night at a friend's house. Colette's mom makes killer homemade perogies and Colette paired them up with fried onions and sour cream, the largest kielbasa I've ever seen in my life and a huge casserole dish of her mom's equally delicious cabbage rolls. And salad. But I think Colette and I were the only ones that ate any. And then, of course, lemon tart.
I picked lemon because I figured it would be something light after all that delicious Ukrainian food. And I picked a tart because I really want to get better at making pastry. This Lemon Curd Tart would take care of both those things.
But it wasn't without it's challenges.
1) The "unshrinkable" tart shell that shrank. (Watching cooking shows on TV since this, I have learned that you just can't stretch dough. It will shrink back. Uh-huh. Lesson learned.)
2) I burnt the living daylights out of my hand when whisking the lemon curd just after it came off the heat. But, I was proud of myself for continuing to whisk (the show must go on!) while stretching my way over to the sink and running cold water on the burn. Boiling hot lemon curd – 1. Me – 0.
My tart pan is also a bit bigger than suggested, which is probably why I had more trouble with the dough and felt the curd layer was a bit thin. Next time I'll double the dough and make some jam tarts with leftovers. And I'll double the curd, make a nice thick layer and then eat the rest with a spoon. 😀
The lemon curd is pretty basic. The tart shell comes from Dorie Greenspan, as adapted by Smitten Kitchen. (I am leaving her instructions completely intact because she explains it very well.)
Lemon Curd Tart
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2 -3 lemons)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (yeah, I did a lot more than that. Probably double.)
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a pot of simmering water, whisk eggs, lemon juice and sugar. Cook, constantly stirring, until mixture becomes thick. (This took about 10 minutes for me.) Remove bowl from heat and strain to remove lumps. Add small pieces of butter and whisk into lemon mixture until butter has melted. Stir in zest. Let cool. Cover with plastic wrap (I press mine right onto the curd to prevent a skin form forming) and refrigerate.
The Great Unshrinkable Sweet Tart Shell
Makes one 9-inch tart crust
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons; 4 1/2 ounces) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg
1. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt together in the bowl of a food processor. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. (You're looking for some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.) Stir the egg, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses–about 10 seconds each–until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change–heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Chill the dough, wrapped in plastic, for about 2 hours before rolling.
2. To roll the dough: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll out chilled dough on floured sheet of parchment paper to 12-inch round, lifting and turning dough occasionally to free from paper. (Alternately, you can roll this out between two pieces of plastic, though flour the dough a bit anyway.) Using paper as aid, turn dough into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom; peel off paper. Seal any cracks in dough. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in, making double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork.
Alternately, you can press the dough in as soon as it is processed: Press it evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the tart shell. You want to press hard enough that the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that it loses its crumbly texture.
3. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.
4. To fully or partially bake the crust: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil (or use nonstick foil) and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. And here is the very best part: Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake the crust about 10 minutes longer to fully bake it, or until it is firm and golden brown, brown being the important word: a pale crust doesn't have a lot of flavor. (To partially bake it, only an additional 5 minutes is needed.) Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature, and proceed with the rest of your recipe.
Do ahead: The dough can be wrapped and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months. While the fully baked crust can be packed airtight and frozen for up to 2 months, the flavor will be fresher bake it directly from the freezer,


text: A lot of bullish commentators are talking about a recovery being in the works, and they may very well be right. But it is not going to look like any recovery worthy of the name. This week we look at what I will call The Statistical Recovery. But first, we take a look at what China is doing, as we continue our look at the rest of the world and ponder if it is time to brace ourselves for an extended bout of the Muddle Through Economy*. (And yes, there is an asterisk.)


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For those wondering who will replace Matt Barkley under center for USC, you're going to have to wait a while longer for the answer.
In its latest depth chart released Saturday, the Trojans listed Max Wittek (pictured, No. 13) OR Cody Kessler (pictured, No. 6) — in that order, for what it's worth — at the quarterback position. The redshirt sophomores have engaged in essentially what's been a two-man battle for the starting job since the start of spring practice.
Thus far head coach Lane Kiffin has declined to tip his hand as to which direction he's headed, even as some think he already knows who the starter will be and is simply making the season-opening opponent — Hawaii, coached by former USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow — guess right up until kickoff.
Gamesmanship aside, USC will head into the 2013 season with co-starters at the position, with Kiffin making it crystal clear that neither contender grabbed the job by the throat.
"If somebody would have outperformed the other one, we wouldn't be here," Kiffin said. "But they both did really well."
The quarterback position, though, is not the only position without a designated starter for the Thursday opener at Aloha Stadium.
In fact, all four positions in the secondary have an "OR" between the top two players, with both safety positions carrying an "OR" between the top three players. Right guard, tight end and tailback also include co-starters. Or co-co-starters for the latter as the RB pecking order goes "Tre Madden OR Silas Redd OR Justin Davis."
Redd, the Trojans leading rusher in 2012, missed the latter half of spring practice with a knee injury. Earlier this week, Kiffin said he's "not sure he will be" available for the opener as the back continues his recovery.


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Only a few more days until we can finally get our hands on the sylvari and the asura! Last year, they have been playable at gaming conventions like GamesCom. Have a look at our sPvP videos from GamesCom 2011 to see sylvari and asura in action. However, they were not playable in their respective starter areas and we haven't been able to play them during any of the beta weekend events.
If you're wondering what to do until next weekend, here's a selection of links that will give you plenty to read and listen to. I wrote two posts at Talk Tyria about the sylvari and the asura. I had looked at the asura from a more roleplaying point-of-view: Are they cute and cuddly or heartless and selfish? How much will we be able to identify with our asura characters? And then we have the sylvari. I have a friend who always makes an elf character when that race exists. Will players like him be happy with the sylvari? How much "elf" is in a sylvari? Okay, I am mostly focusing on their looks and not their character. But you'll see that if you read the entry.
The reason I even remembered those postings in the first place and thought about putting them here was that AJ Wolf on The Tyrian Order recently wrote about sylvari and asura as well. They're much broader than my postings as she gives a general overview of the races, their history, important characters (careful: those parts contain spoilers for the novels if you haven't read them yet and don't want to know what happens), and so on. She also lists her sources (as did I on Talk Tyria), so there's plenty of further reading if you can't get enough of those two races.
If you don't feel like reading, you can listen to the two TowerTalk interviews for the sylvari and the asura instead: The one about asura is a bit older by now, but the lore shouldn't have changed that much in the meantime. Don't let the German website scare you. The interviews are in English! "Englische Transkription" is – probably easy to guess – the English transcription of the interview. The sylvari interview was released not too long ago. Both are really great interviews with lots of information and insight about the two races.
Last but not least, as you know, I have taken lots of screenshots so far and while I do not have any from the sylvari and asura cities yet (you will get to see those galleries here after next BWE, of course), I did take a couple that show those two races and I thought it's the perfect way to end this short article.


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Living and Working in Everett
Bordered by the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound, Everett is a developing business epicenter with charming communities located less than 45-minutes from Seattle. The mild climate is ideal for enjoying Everett's 40 parks, waterfront and beaches. Snohomish County also provides residents easy access to snow skiing, hiking, golfing and other outdoor activities, along with arts and culture attractions such as performance venues, museums and historical districts.
A world-class and state-of-the-art facility, Providence Regional Medical Center Everett provides innovative treatment across the continuum of care. It is the state's most award-winning hospital for medical care; having received the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence four years in a row. In addition to our Inpatient Hospice Care Center located at Providence Regional Medical Center, Providence Hospice and Home Care serves home-based patients in communities throughout Snohomish County and Camano Island. Lastly, Providence Medical Group has more than 10 Snohomish County primary care, specialty care and hospital-based medical providers.
Check out our available jobs below.
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Cardiovascular Technologist , Electophysiology (EP) (0.0 FTE, Variable)Everett, Washington
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text:
|DNA Engine Tetrad 2 Peltier Thermal Cycler from Bio-Rad
|DNA Engine Tetrad 2 Peltier Thermal Cycler
| The Tetrad 2 thermal cycler is a completely redesigned and updated version of the original Tetrad chassis, and it accepts the full line of well-proven Alpha heat-pump assemblies. It delivers the same precision in thermal performance as the DNA Engine Dyad, and original Tetrad thermal cyclers, allowing easy transport of protocols among platforms.
The Tetrad 2 contains an onboard Pentium-class computer that delivers an advanced graphical interfaceideal for managing production-grade thermal cycling. For those labs that value quick training, the creation and editing of protocols can be accomplished rapidly and easily via the mouse-directed point-and-click navigation. Real-time displays of block, sample and lid temperatures provide quality assurance that the thermal cycler is performing as directed. Superior software features, such as error tracking logs, run tracking files, problem resolution trees and file management tools, offer invaluable information for troubleshooting during high throughput runs.
| Bio-Rad
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
Life Science Research Group
2000 Alfred Nobel Drive
Hercules, CA 94547
Customer Service: 800-424 6723
Fax Number: 800-879 2289
Web Site: http://discover.bio-rad.com


text:
Family Portraits
Other Disciplines:
Commercial Photography
Wedding Photography
While her third level training is as a commercial photographer it is as a wedding photographer that Claire has really thrived. Her wedding photography is very relaxed in style, with a mostly documentary look at the day. Family and bridal party photographs are kept short and sweet, allowing everybody time to enjoy the day with each other.
Increasingly she is photographing families as former wedding couples return with their children and pets! Sticking to a similar feeling in this photography, family sessions are kept relaxed and fun, allowing time for children to relax and be themselves.
With profile photographs, Claire loves to create a headshot you feel represents you well and that you will be proud to display.
By investing in the talent and expertise of an IPPVA photographer or videographer you are insuring that careful planning goes into unobtrusively capturing the key moments, people and atmosphere of your big day.
When you engage the services of an IPPVA photographer or videographer you will be working with someone who upholds the strictest professional standards, who deals fairly and honestly with you, and who strives to create images that you will cherish for years to come.


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This was just what the doctor ordered. The Buffalo Sabres went on a 3-game road trip and came back to Buffalo will all six points. After dropping like a lead balloon during the first two weeks of November, the Sabres suddenly are moving up in the standings. Completing their three-game road trip with an impressive 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Sabres come home to face the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche Friday night.
You are here: Home / SabresBeat / Three for the road


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There are many natural stone flooring choices available today and each piece of stone is unique – no two pieces are ever identical. Each piece offers its own colouring, veining and natural characteristics like hardness and porosity. Some may vary in thickness and will not have a smooth surface or straight edge/corners. This all adds to the natural stone's beauty and uniqueness.
Natural stone tiles are produced from slicing large boulders or slabs of rock into square or rectangle shaped tiles. The more common types of natural stone include slate, travertine, marble, granite, sandstone, and limestone.
SLATE: Often available in deep greens, blues, greys and purples, this natural stone has a matte surface and a branched pattern. Slate is best used for floors as it is very slip resistant.
TRAVERTINE: This stone favours a matte finish and offers warmth that other natural stone products don't. This stone is a sedimentary rock composed of calcite and is softer than limestone. Travertine does have a tendency to scratch and stain due to its porous surface. Travertine is best used for floors, walls and showers.
MARBLE: The classic choice with a honed finish. Requires sealing/polishing. Best uses for marble is foyers, kitchens, bathrooms, or fireplaces.
GRANITE: One of the hardest natural stones available often flecked with bits of minerals that produce a salt and pepper look, and in some cases, form veins. Holds its shine beautifully, repels water and is difficult to scratch/stain. Best uses for granite are kitchens, bathrooms and hallways as well as fireplace surrounds and kitchen/bathroom countertops.
SANDSTONE: A metamorphic rock with mild colour variation and consistent tones. Sandstone is best used for kitchen floors, showers and bathtub surrounds.
LIMESTONE: Similar to travertine but harder as it has been hardened through time and tectonic action. Limestone often keeps is striations as it forms, making it look like wood. Limestone is best used for kitchen floors, entrance-ways and bathroom surfaces and does require sealing to prevent staining.
Consider installing in floor heating systems with your Natural Stone floor. It is energy efficient and can be controlled using a variety of thermostat options. You'll love this feature on those cold snowy days.
It may be overwhelming when reviewing all the different types of natural stone choices and their characteristics. Our Nufloors flooring experts are here to help you select the right choice for your space.


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Ask A Pastry Chef: What To Eat At Eleni's New York
Since 1997, both tourists and New Yorkers alike have stopped at a white-walled shop in Chelsea Market, drawn in by the bursts of color coming from plates of brightly decorated cookies. That shop is Eleni's, and those "conversation cookies" have become what Eleni's is best known for—not in the least because it's incredibly hard to find adorably decorated cookies that actually taste as good as they look.
So you might be surprised to learn that Eleni's started as a catering business based on owner Eleni Gianopulos's mother's recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Those big chewy cookies are available at the bakery, in addition to cupcakes, crispy cookies, and more. Torn about what to order? Don't worry, we've got 5 must-try items picked by Eleni herself.
Eleni's New York
75 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (map) and 1266 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10128 (map) 1-888-435-3647; elenis.com


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Books kept me alive in prison
The end of the ban on sending books to prisoners in the UK reminds me just how vital they were to my survival inside, and to the life I have lived since
From The Guardian/ By Erwin James
The official lifting on the ban on sending books to prisoners, which comes into effect on Tuesday, finally brings to an end one of the most irrational and baffling Ministry of Justice policy decisions in recent times. When I consider my life before prison and my life after prison, the difference is so immense it's almost immeasurable. In my heart, I know that I could not have made the changes I needed to make, to live a contributing life, without education and books.
In 2008 I wrote a piece about The Grass Arena, the life story of former vagrant John Healy who found redemption through chess. "A good book can change the way you think about life," was how I started the piece. Healy's book had been sent to me by a probation officer in 1990 when I was around six years into my life sentence and struggling. "Read what this man has achieved and be inspired," she wrote in the inside cover. I did and I was. Never could I have imagined then that 18 years later I would be instrumental in getting The Grass Arena republished
as a Penguin Modern Classic. This book is still a source of inspiration and hope today.
How any of us become who we are is a complicated process. I was already trying to figure it out long before I read about John Healy. It was the first year of my life sentence and I was locked in my cell in Wandsworth prison for 23 hours a day. I was without skills or abilities, but I could read. I'm sure the six books a week I was allowed from the prison library helped to keep me alive during that uncertain year, unlike the man in the cell above mine who hanged himself during my first Christmas inside.
At first I read so I wouldn't have to think – then a friend sent me a book called Prisoners of Honour, a gripping account of the Dreyfus Affair by David Levering Lewis. This was the book that would really make me think and change the way I
thought about life. (more…)


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Come Back To The Five And Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee, the second full-length album from Benjy Ferree, is a musical eulogy to the forgotten child star, Bobby Driscoll. He portrayed Peter Pan in the 1953 Disney feature, then faced the reality of growing up in a world without Neverland. Once Disney's golden boy of cinema, Driscoll was fired from Disney after the making of Peter Pan for the unforgivable crime of hitting puberty and developing acne. No longer cute and profitable, he struggled to find work and fell into a life-long battle with drugs until ultimately dying homeless and broke in a Manhattan tenement in 1968 at the age of 31. With police unable to identify his body, the Academy Award winner ended up in an unmarked pauper's grave on New York's Hart Island.
Driscoll was a natural subject for Ferree as Peter Pan wasn't just an entertaining fictional character during Ferree's youth – he was an obsession. As a child, Ferree spent hours imitating the mischievous, magical child adventurer. His eventual discovery of Driscoll's sad fate led to this album – an ode not just to his childhood hero, but to anyone who's gotten the short end of the stick in life – with Driscoll renewing his role as the leader of life's ignored Lost Boys.
Musically, Ferree lets his distinctive blend of rock and roll and Americana across new borders and genres. Drawing as much from the country meandering of Jimmie Rodgers and the passionate blues pounding of Son House as he does from the vocal hysterics of Freddie Mercury and the balladry of Nick Cave, Ferree crafts a sound that is difficult to fit into any one category, but upon listening is as gratifying as it is unique.
Produced by Ferree himself, engineered by Mark Nevers, and mixed by Brendan Canty, Come Back To The Five And Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee displays Ferree's evolution as not only a masterful songwriter and arranger, but more importantly, as one of today's most intriguing and imaginative voices.


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I love it when blogging posts get handed to me on silver platters, er, um, pretty blog backgrounds from my neighborhood pals. This idea I'm pulling from Heather and I so much loved reading what she's done and see what she's created to share with her kids one day. So, I'm following suit to see what I can check off.
The following is a previously compiled list and the things I have done are highlighted in bold and obviously in purple. Some things... well, some things are just better left for some one else. But I'm still finding plenty on the list that I can aspire to do one day.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day.
So, 40 out of a pre-listed 100 that I have done. When the day comes that I have more money than I know what to do with, maybe it'll be easier to knock off a few of the world- traveler themed items. I'm sure that the Sistine Chapel and a gondola in Venice will still be there for me when that happens, right?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I love it when blogging posts get handed to me on silver platters, er, um, pretty blog backgrounds from my neighborhood pals. This idea I'm pulling from Heather and I so much loved reading what she's done and see what she's created to share with her kids one day. So, I'm following suit to see what I can check off.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:46 PM 1 Welcome Comments
Sunday, November 23, 2008
day two
Have you ever had one of those days when you really just feel like you were a really good mom? Not like you're not a good mom any other day, but there are some days when the kids seem happy and content, the day runs without incident and you feel most of your sanity and composure still intact after the kids go to bed. THOSE days.
I'm happy to say that we enjoyed one of those kind of days today. And since I'm running the show by myself (and didn't let Elaina recruit herself to plan our day) I feel like today was a pretty nice success.
Since it's about 4 degrees warmer than an iceberg outside, we had no plans of going anywhere today and only opened the door to let the dog out. That's it. Elaina got to play with Play-Doh and Lincoln tried to eat Play-Doh. Lincoln didn't like Play-Doh because he couldn't eat it. Elaina played happily for almost an hour. Elaina also earned a reward for her good behavior and had me paint her finger and toe nails sparkly pink!
Lincoln's behavior seems to be changing by the week. He's learning that his bedtime routine consists of brushing his teeth while I sing to him and then we read books, we snuggle while I rock him and then I ask for kisses, he laughs and tries to squirm away from me as I press a dozen kisses into his head and face and then it's crib time for my boy. This is the same little boy who had me so worried that he hated books and hated to sit still and didn't want to have anything to do with sitting quietly and rocking on my lap. Progress has come with time and along with him growing older, both Eric and I remained diligent about keeping "Squirmer" on our lap long enough to get through even the shortest of books. Now we read 2 or 3 books and on the occasional nights that he comes to me with outstretched arms to sit on my lap to read, just about brings tears to my eyes. Progress, Little Man.
Other than that, I think that I'm losing the battle with the nasty sinus infection that's been toying with me all week. My laundry is nearly caught up and I might just make it to bed tonight before 11:00. That's the last goal on my list: early bedtime. I gotta go!
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:35 PM 1 Welcome Comments
Saturday, November 22, 2008
day one
This morning, Eric left for his annual hunting trip in West Virginia. It's the start of gun season down there and he stays with family and is able to celebrate Thanksgiving with them to conclude his week away.
Now that both kids are a little bit older, (that's a relative term) I don't seem to feel quite as anxious as I did when Lincoln was still a baby and Elaina was still learning the whole single parent routine. What I mean by that is I now have only one child in diapers, both kids can entertain themselves for reasonable lengths of time and Elaina can be trusted to behave without having Daddy to have to fall back on. This is a nice feeling compared to just one year ago.
Since I also plan to celebrate Thanksgiving away from home, I'm keeping my eye on the prize just knowing that I have to only make my way alone from Saturday through Wednesday before heading out to stay with my parents. Five days. I can do that.
Today was pretty good. Although I felt like my day consisted of washing dishes and scrubbing the table down 78,000 times, we did well. At one point, Elaina was playing games on the computer and Lincoln's scraggly baby hair was just screaming at me for neglecting it for so long. All of the sudden, I could no longer handle waiting for a professional to get us in for an appointment, nor could I wait for a hand from my mom to help cut it. (Incidentally, my mom is a self-taught beautician. Key word: self.) I dug out my haircutting shears (that's the only professional thing I had going for me) and began to snip away at Lincoln's golden, wispy, baby locks. I took advantage of the perfect staging doing it myself; Lincoln was standing in front of the TV, fixated to Yo! Gabba Gabba! which was prime time for his first haircut. Plus I even remembered to take before and after pictures and I saved his hair for his baby book! How do you like me now!!
BEFORE: (Scraggly. I know!) (Plus his head was angled up.)
THE LOVELY AFTER: (pay no attention to the grump face, it was not haircut related)
Surprisingly enough, it actually turned out pretty good. No more scraggly baby hair, but layers which actually look like "texture" in his hair and not so fine and flimsy. Although you can't tell from the picture, the back is straight and even. I should have combed through it before taking his picture.
I must have been on a haircut high because it was that moment that I decided that Elaina also, was due for her first haircut. Three and a half years old and getting her first haircut! I trimmed the length of her hair after she was fresh from her bath and only took off the uneven ends which was all of about one inch. Her haircut saddened me just a little because to me, these were the last thing that connected her with the tiny newborn that we brought home from the hospital. These were the same golden curls that she had when she was a year old and the same ones that began to touch her shoulders when she turned 2. Lincoln, well, he was a peach-fuzz head from day one and his hair only really began to grow within the past 8 months.
How's that for posterity? Another "baby's first" to put down in the baby book and retell when my kids are pre-teens and actually have an interest in when things happened in their life timeline.
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:58 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Friday, November 21, 2008
you know you're getting old when...
you appreciate how nice your new trash can looks in your kitchen.
Behold what has come to make me feel just a little bit giddy inside. I'm so weird.
The best part is that it comes fully Lincoln-proofed. Yep, I really like my can.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:52 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Monday, November 17, 2008
Not Ignoring the Ringing I Hear
After work today, I made my bi-monthly Wal-Mart run (shopping Day 3 if you're counting) and if I'm not mistaken, it looks as though it is the opening day for the Salvation Army's bell ringers to be out in full force with their red, metal kettles. I didn't see them yesterday and it's going to be a long time before they go away.
I parked my fat SUV in a close parking space and took off my warm gloves to check over my shopping list. Included on my list were several food items, but also items that just seem to make our lives a little more enjoyable. A little more luxurious and a little bit easier. It was that moment that I looked up and spied a Salvation Army bell ringer, volunteering their time in the freezing cold weather, being ignored by shoppers too busy rushing past to get into the warmth of the store and buy what they need and what they want. I began to think how many times I've filled that role, making up excuses in my head that I don't have any pocket change or I don't want to take my gloves off to look or I simply don't have time to drop in a spare dime. Embarrassing excuses don't you think?
From that moment, it struck me how fortunate I am, how fortunate my family is and how blessed we are every single day. We really don't have a "need" for anything. And isn't that nice to be able to say? While there are most certainly plenty of people with greater financial wealth than ourselves, just think of how many people right in our own community, who don't know when or where their next meal is coming from. And one season a year, volunteers step up across the country, reaching out to make a difference. All you have to do is stretch out your arm.
So, I'm doing it. From this day forward, a new tradition has been born into our family. I will no longer pretend that I'm not acutely aware of that ringing bell in the cold night air. I won't think of how much money I don't have in my purse, but rather dig until I come up with something. And most importantly, not let a single day go by without thanking God for how blessed we are and how He continues to provide.
The side effect of this effort in giving is twofold. Can you imagine a better lesson and tradition to share with your children? When our kids are grown and they hear that bell ringing next to the red kettle, I don't want them to remember a single time in their life that that didn't mean for them to take action. Like making a simple contribution was ever an option given to them. It's just the way it's always been. In addition to that, even with the simplest contribution of my spare change each year, it accounts for something. It may be the difference in feeding a hungry person their next meal. Or it may that a lovely 3 year old girl or boy gets their very first new toy to call their own.
Whatever it means, I'm in. Anyone care to join me this season?
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:46 PM 1 Welcome Comments
Sunday, November 16, 2008
We could get used to this...
My parents came into town to stay with us this weekend just after last weekend's visit with Grandma and Grandpa W. Whew, do you suppose we could we ever get used to so much attention and new people to put kids to bed and new people to sit beside at dinnertime and new play companions? Um, yeah!!! (you didn't think the answer would be "no" did you?)
Elaina and Lincoln were mostly hysterical and kept the four of us on our toes at all times. I think that my mom and dad finally understood that I've never exaggerated when I say that you need to keep an eye on Lincoln all of the time. That little stinkbug isn't so much into watching TV like his big sis, (which is FINE) but what he enjoys the most is putting himself into places he doesn't belong and running his cars ANYwhere that he can find a flat surface. Oh, and the fact that he is part monkey and likes to climb ONTO everything! My parents witnessed firsthand what a little Stinka-Stink Linky-Dink really is.
Other than not being on any time table other than making an effort to sleep in, we went shopping. Let's just say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree:-)) We shopped on Saturday and on Sunday! My mom has always been a shopper and my dad, since retirement, has enjoyed the thrill of the hunt more than ever, but most especially, when there are kiddos to help wrangle. God love him for that!
We all enjoyed our time together and so much looking forward to our next visit with them at Thanksgiving! Which is next week already. Seriously.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:09 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Since this week has been relentless at kicking my tail end, I am going to wrap up my week with a list of "things."
Categories: Mad, Sad, Glad and Bad "THINGS"
The MAD things this week had to offer me:
1. My co-worker has a serious stench problem. And in utmost honesty and fairness, it is severe. No exaggeration. The whole office has pitched in and tried to remedy the stink (coming from her coat in the coat room also) by spraying their well-intended air fresheners which have only taken on a new stink and caused me to come home with a headache each and every single day.
2. ^ headache.
3. ^ every.
4. ^ single.
5. ^ day.
The SAD things that have occupied me this week:
1. It's hunting season. This is the one month each year that I don't expect to see hyde, not hair of my own husband as he forsakes me for long walks in the woods with his gun.
2. I've heard too many stories of children being victims this week to last me 8 lifetimes. Needless to say, I don't work in a very happy place. No one comes there for anything good.
3. Even though I was off work on Monday and Tuesday, I don't feel like I accomplished very much even though I took the kids to the babysitter's house.
4. I should have bought more stuff at Kohl's when I had my 30% off coupon. (Yeah, that makes me sad.)(I like stuff.)
5. I only wish that I could read Lincoln's mind. The past two nights he has woke around 10:00 crying his ever-loving head off and the only thing that makes him happy is to let him wander around and play. I don't know if he's not feeling well, if he's getting his 2 year molars, or what.
The GLAD things that I have enjoyed this week:
1. I took Monday off and our offices were closed on Tuesday in recognition of Veteran's Day. Hello 4 day weekend;-)))
2. Did I mention that I won my blogger-friend Kelsey's Pay It Forward prize? And I won another awesome Pay It Forward contest last month too! (this is coming from the girl who never wins anything!) We don't get our mail from the post office on a regular basis so I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my next big prize!
3. With my fabulous winnings now bestowed upon me, it will soon be my turn to host my very own Pay It Forward contest. Get it? Win, pay it forward! Since my birthday is only a few weeks away, I've pretty much decided that I will be holding my first contest then since I've already learned that it is better to give than receive. I'll host my second contest to kick off the new year in 2009. (Seriously, that's like 90 days away!) That's exciting stuff Folks!
4. Last month, frugal-me took a serious plunge and splurged (invested) on purchasing a a professional hairdryer to tame my naturally frizzy, unruly hair. Every. Single. Morning. I am so happy to have that sucker, err, um, blower. I've had seriously happy hair ever since.
5. I'm glad that this work week is almost over. 3 days? I can do it!
And finally, the BAD things that have caused me stress this week:
1. During our play date on Sunday, Elaina must have bitten her tongue at some point, however didn't complain until that night and it's been causing her pain ever since. I was really taken back at how badly she chomped down on it to cause the marking that it did. It's caused her so much pain that she wakes up in the middle of the night crying because of it and it hurts her to eat. That's the last thing this kid needs; something to cause her to want to eat less than she already does. I didn't know that "less" was possible.
2. Eric's regular work scheduled compiled with his generally-inconvenient-hunting schedule has left Eric burning the candle at both ends and us not seeing much of him. This has also created me to cover as "solo mom" to pick up the slack along the way, both morning and night.
3. The "Super-Mom-Wannabe" which I aspire to be finds me at midnight bedtimes and 6:00 mornings. While this is ordinary to some (you're crazy by the way!) this Momma needs more sleep! My eyes want to slam shut by noon and then again at 3:00 and 8:00. But no.
4. Judging from the telltale crappy weather we've been having recently, I just find myself dreading the beginning of a long, cold and dark winter.
5. Some of my fellow blogger friends have been so diligently working on posting a new blog each day this month as part of National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and since this week has been already taking it's toll on me, I can barely squeeze in time to read all of their posts, let alone keep up by trying to comment on what a great job they are doing keeping me entertained.
That's my week in a nutshell. Dare I say that next week will be better?
NO. It's STILL hunting season. Maybe by February. Cross your fingers.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:15 PM 1 Welcome Comments
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Why "2" fit us fine
A friend of mine is going through a little rough patch with some circumstances in her life and her marriage at this point and I thought the only thing that I could possibly think to help lend her a hand at the given moment was to offer to watch her kids for a few hours to allow her some time alone.
When I called her asking for her kids to come over for a play date, she told me how nice it was for me to think of that and that while many other people have offered to help her in other ways, what she really needed most was some kid-free, adult time. Just by her acknowledging so openly that I was actually providing some much needed help to her, I felt like she was the one doing me a favor. I can't even tell you how good it felt for me to know that the simple favor I was doing for her, meant so much to her and how much she appreciated it. And it didn't cost me a dime, or any of my time, nothing except for being there to play with her kids for a couple hours. Better yet, my kids thought it was a major event hosting their friends at our house. What a giant boost to my self-esteem; realizing that it is better to give than to get.
So, what in the world do I do with 4 kids? The cast of characters include my 1 and 3 year old and my friends' players, a 3 and a 5 year old. I let them decorate cupcakes, color, and jump and bounce around on the sofa and the slide. They played kitties melting in hot lava. (5 year old imagination?) They were wild, screaming horses on a rampage. And myself and the 3 older ones even sat on the floor and took turns rolling the ball to one another. We had only one snag in misunderstanding (read: not listening) which resulted in a shattered picture frame from a ball kicked in the house. No one was injured. All kids remained intact.
The afternoon was interesting to say the least. I very much recognize that 2 kids is exactly the right amount for me (like I have a choice) but at the same time, 4 kids wouldn't be impossible. (as long as I had earplugs on standby) Also, because our mini-guest siblings are 2 years apart, as are my duo, it was like catching a glimpse into our future with a 5 year old Elaina and a 3 year old Lincoln. That alone, made me want to freeze Elaina into forever being 3 and let Lincoln catch up to speed. A little bit. At least until he can talk to me and we can have conversations. And he's done teething. And he can feed himself.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:49 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Saturday, November 08, 2008
When the Grandparents come visiting
We enjoyed dinner out together as timing would have it that they would be celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary the very next day. The pre-kid, well rested me would have gone through a little more trouble and planning and actually had a nice evening meal prepared at home, but those days are gone and the joy in eating is now having someone else do the preparation and the cleaning up. The old me would have even been so thoughtful to get a card for the occasion. Current status: I haven't been in a card store since before Lincoln was born.
All of that aside, they didn't come here looking for any fanfare or party balloons, just some quality time with their youngest son and his family. So, do you want to know what we did first thing on Saturday morning? My mother-in-law accompanied me in taking the kids (and myself) in getting a flu shot. Yep. Come on over to my place if you want your fill of family bonding, skin piercing, baby screaming, lollipop-licking moments. (Thanks Brenda for coming along with me! Really.)
Other than that, we had nothing on our agenda other than hanging out around the house and losing count of how many times Elaina had to be told to stop squeezing her brother. She loves him. Intensely. To the point of wanting to squeeze him into tiny, Lincoln bits. My poor boy.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:20 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Storage solution
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:54 PM 1 Welcome Comments
Welcome to my evenings
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:48 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
A Family Affair
The time has come. Elaina is almost 3 1/2 and Lincoln is 18 months old today. I was determined to finally get a family picture.
We've always had good luck at the JCPenney studio and didn't hesitate to book our family appointment there. I made sure to steer clear of the kids' nap times, I secretly packed Lincoln's favorite musical toy for the photographer to lure his attention and we didn't even have to wait when we arrived. Things were looking good.
As we piled into the room, I instantly felt warm. Like their thermostat was set inexplicably high, even for a cold-blooded gal like myself. I knew that while we were all dressed for outside temperatures, our photographer was going to be have to snap some pictures quick before my wild bandits decided not to sit a moment longer dressed in their pressed shirts and layers.
We started with a family pose since that was our ultimate goal and immediately after the first click of the camera, things only went down hill. For the little one especially. Lincoln had made up his mind to get his little self right out of that room. Elaina was great except for her most gigantic, pretend camera-ham smile from ear to ear. Nothing says "natural" like wide, transfixed eyes and an overly- clenched mouth that seems to be screaming GIGGLE! Funny though she is. Most of hers turned out rather good.
Even after Eric pulled Lincoln to the side for a thumb-suckin' break, he made it clear to us one more time that he was finished. F-I-N-I-S-H-E-D! At this point, the photographer had only gotten a few pictures of the 4 of us and we had plenty of time left. I suggested that she just go ahead and take pictures of Elaina then. She was most definitely cooperating to say the least.
Once she had posed by herself for a few shots, I asked that Eric and I both get an individual picture with her pretty, little self too. Lincoln on the other hand, well... Eric had to put him into his stroller, wheel him out and buy him a soft fleecy blanket for him to snuggle against since that is the one thing I did not count on needing to take pictures. So Lincoln Todd, if you ever complain that you don't have have an "official" one year old picture taken closer to your 1st birthday, now you know why. By no means are you a delight to pose in a formal picture setting. In fact, I already find myself beginning to dread his 2 year picture. Lincoln has 6 months to practice sitting and smiling. Got it Kiddo?
Without further ado, let me present to you our first family pictures!
Cute and fun, but I passed because I found the next one to be just a little more cute and a little more fun.
This one was the keeper.
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:39 PM 3 Welcome Comments